Digital camera direct to PC

[Ming the Merciless]

If Windows you should be able to configure what it automatically does when a USB device (camera) is plugged in. There’s an option to automatically import photos and videos. Haven’t used that feature for a while, but pretty sure it’s still one of the options.

 

[classic33]

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/articles/00021957

Is this the sort of thing that you want to do?

 

[markemark]

Thank you all. The main issue is that most cameras won’t act in file transfer mode as well as camera mode at the same time. Those that can are ‘tethered’ and these are high end cameras. Anything like a web cam has very low resolution.
The best options are likely to be an overhead scanner or as @ColinJ suggested, a phone that synchs to the cloud.

 

[PaulSB]

Thank you all. The main issue is that most cameras won’t act in file transfer mode as well as camera mode at the same time. Those that can are ‘tethered’ and these are high end cameras. Anything like a web cam has very low resolution.
The best options are likely to be an overhead scanner or as @ColinJ suggested, a phone that synchs to the cloud.

I don't have any photographic skills other than point and click. I was going to make exactly the same suggestion as @ColinJ

One further comment. I don't think you need a "phone that syncs to the cloud." It is the Google account that syncs to the Google drive, the personal cloud storage, which comes with a Google account. The standard Google account includes 15GB of storage, you have to buy additional storage if you need it.

If you go down this route just about any Android phone will run Google and be very quick and easy to set up. It will be possible on an iPhone but Apple will probably add some additional hurdles.

Another possibility is Microsoft. I subscribe to the MS Office suite. This is +/-£95 pa. It has a number of additional benefits, one of which is 1TB of storage in One Drive. I believe Google charges +/-£8/month (£96pa) for 2TB. You'd need to check this.

 

[Bristolian]

I used to use a Nikon D300 tethered to my laptop via a free Nikon app when shooting in a studio. It gave me live preview on the laptop screen and control over the basic settings on the camera (i.e. shutter speed, aperture and ISO). I could only use the centre focus point but when I pressed/clicked on the shutter release in the app the camera focussed, took the shot and transferred the image to the pc automatically.

You can pick up a used D300 or D300s for less than your £200 budget - mpb.com have several D300s for under £150. You would also have to add a lens but Nikon kit lenses are cheap as chips these days as most people moving to mirrorless and trading in their DSLR kit to help fund the move.

 

[markemark]

I used to use a Nikon D300 tethered to my laptop via a free Nikon app when shooting in a studio. It gave me live preview on the laptop screen and control over the basic settings on the camera (i.e. shutter speed, aperture and ISO). I could only use the centre focus point but when I pressed/clicked on the shutter release in the app the camera focussed, took the shot and transferred the image to the pc automatically.

You can pick up a used D300 or D300s for less than your £200 budget - mpb.com have several D300s for under £150. You would also have to add a lens but Nikon kit lenses are cheap as chips these days as most people moving to mirrorless and trading in their DSLR kit to help fund the move.

Thank you. This seems to be my understanding of tethering. It's only for high-end (1.5k +) cameras or used ones for much less but were worth that at the time.

 

[markemark]

Update:
Bought of of these overhead scanners for about £200 and it is diong a grand job. Super fast and easy to use with perfect acceptable quality.