My Sony camera, when plugged in, prompts for opening in Nautilus, Shotwell etc., and Nautilus displays a "This medium contains photos..." header, allowing to open in Shotwell.
Unfortunately Shotwell does not list the camera in the left pane (it was listed as "Mass Storage Camera" before), and it's impossible to import from it, other than via "Import from folder" function.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: shotwell 0.18.0-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Sat Apr 19 11:00:53 2014
SourcePackage: shotwell
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
Thank you for your bug report, what sort of camera do you use? Is it usually in ptp mode or in usb storage?