iPhoto will not import from iPhone4 or Camera

I have been unable to import from my camera into iPhoto for almost 2 years now... I always thought it was my camera so I just ignored the issue. But now, my Iphone 4 wont import either. I guess the problem was not my camera. I get 2 errors, one says "iPhoto cannot import your photos because there was a problem downloading an image." and the other tells me that .JPG is not an authorized file format. I am able to import to other computers, so I know the files are fine...Stay tuned for the end of the post and I will give another reason that I am sure the files are fine!

I have tried many things to fix this, but I will break it out into pre iPhone4 and post iPhone4. Also, all software is up to date... I have the latest versions of all programs and OS.

Post iPhone4: I have created a new user account incase I had corrupt user preferences, I have run Repair Disk Permissions, and I even purchased Aperture which gives me the same errors... I was sure mad to spend all that money and have it not work either!

Pre iPhone4, I have reinstalled iPhoto, reinstalled the OS, and then later upgraded to snow leopard. None of this fixes the problem.

The strangest thing of all is that sometimes... After a reboot for example, I can get ONE video or picture to import. but then, the gates close and it is broken again. The file that imported is the same one that earlier said that it was not supported.

I have exhausted the software fixes that I am aware of... Could this be a hardware issue?