cant get video or photos off of iphone

When I sync the phone to itunes, it will not download the photos or videos on my phone to the mac. i have tried to download them through iphoto and no luck there either. I have read some discussion on this issue and apparently it is a problem and apple knows about it. It has something to do with downloading pictures sent through email or something. The point is that iphoto doesnt even recognize the device. So i want to update the firmware to 4.0 but I have to get those pics and videos off the phone! Is there a third party software that will allow me to do it? Because evidently Apple cant figure it out.

thanks,

C