The gPhoto2 project is a universal, free application and library framework that lets you download images from several different digital camera models, including the newer models with USB connections. Note that a) for some older camera models you must use the old "gphoto" package. b) for USB mass storage models you must use the driver in the kernel

This package contains i) the library that digital camera applications can use ii) the command-line utility gphoto2

Other (GUI) frontends are available separately.