DCIM appears as empty in explorer but pics are there on iPhone

[iphonenewbie10]

I use Iphone4 and Windows Vista
In the past I have had no problem downloading pictures manually by connecting the USB cable, using windows explorer to move to Internal Storage/DCIM on the iPhone and copying the pics to my PC.
Now suddenly when in the explorer I go to DCIM on the iPhone it seems empty. No subdirectories, no pictures, nothing. But when looking at the cameraroll on my iPhone all the pictures and movies are there allright.
When I use Autoplay and "Import Pictures with WIndows" I get a notification "No new pictures found".
Weird, they are there on the iPhone for sure.
Anyone encountered this problem?
Thanks,
Rob

 

[willerz2]

Use iFunBox or iExplorer instead. They give you the full breakdown of your system directories so you can navigate to all the possible directories to check.