This probably doesnt go under big game hunting, but I wasnt sure where to put it.
I want to send a game-cam to a friend in namibia.
He has a cannon camera that takes the small square memory card, so a digi that would let him check it with his camera would be perfect. I dont want to spend real big money as it's a chancy thing getting it through the mail without it being stolen. Any ideas?

I can't comment on the game camera (although I'm interested in learning about this myself!), but I will suggest that you don't send it in the mail. A thing like that is a typical item that will very likely "get lost" in the mail in Africa.

Rather, check out if there is anyone here on AR that might be able to bring it with them to Namibia (there are lots of guys going to Namibia every season), and have them drop it off with a contact in Windhoek to be picked up by your friend. Just a suggestion!

There are an increasing number of them on the market. Unfortunately, all that I've dealt with have had problems that have required them to be returned to the factory. Bummer if you live in Namibia!

The Moultrie has been the best so far for the money (less than $100 at discount stores). It uses a six volt lantern battery, which will successfully power the outfit for several weeks at a time. It uses the popular SD card, and at only 1.3 mpx provides an adequatly detailed image, but a 128 MB card will still store about a jillion pictures. You should have two cards so you can exchange them each time you visit the camera. Take the "exposed" card home and dump it in your computer, leaving the "fresh" card in the camera. Erase the card after downloading, then trade it out for the card in use the next trip. This allows you to place the camera in a remote location which you may only visit once in a month or so -- quite handy in a place like Namibia, I would think.

But do your friend a favor. Buy the camera and put it out for a trial for a few weeks to assure that you've got a good one. We've been batting only about 50% on these.

You need to check to see if his camera will "read" the pictures.

I thought, like you, that I could remove the card from the game camera and stick it in my digital camera (since it was the same card) and review my pictures.

Nope.

Here is the problem. The digital camera I have will format a card when I insert it. It likes to see a few "files" on the card. If I insert a blank card, or a card from my game camera that does not contain the proper "files" it will automatically erase the disk and reformat it so the camera can use it.

Same with the game camera that I have. It too needs the card to be formatted to fit the camera, it has its own folder that it likes to see on the card, if it is not there, it won't work.

You need one of two things. He either needs a laptop with a digital card reader (the best option by far) or a digital viewer designed to be used with the game camera he has selected.

There are a few game cameras that I like. Talon makes a few, some infrared, some color and one that takes color photos in the daylight and infrared at night (no visible flash ever) I have two of these. They hold an enormous amount of pictures and battery life is very good. If I buy another one, I will buy one of these.

I have heard good things about the cuddyback. I can recommend that you stay away from anything made by Highlander Sports. I have one of their cameras and it is crap. Low memory (even with a huge card it will only take 32 MB of pictures and then shuts down), constant problems, bad customer service.

They used to be good but some things went on in the company that have made me change my opinion of them.

You really need to find out how your friend will use the game cam. The new IR (Infrared) cams are the shizzle but have limited range for the IR flash, maybe 20 feet. Some of the regular digitals have a flash good to 30 feet. A slave flash that some sell will push out even farther.

Many folks using the Moulties are having all kinds of problems with their cams. Battery life is also short with a Moultrie digital, 2 weeks, compared to the Recon, Cuddeback, TrailMAC, Penn's Woods or Leaf River digitals. They go months between changes. Something that might effect your buddy if he can't check them often.

You can also build your own game cam with the kits from several companies like www.pixcontroller.