How do I automatically sync iPhone camera photos using iTunes?

Question

Hey, gang!  I'm confused about the "Sync Photos from iPhoto" option in iTunes.  I clearly do not want to transfer *all* photos (years of accumulated digicam pictures), yet when I choose "Selected albums", iTunes gives me the following warning:
"This iPhone contains photos synced with another photo library or folder. Photos and albums on “Name of iPhone” will be replaced with photos and albums from this computer. Photos taken with “Name of iPhone” will not be affected.
Well, this is bizarre--what other library or folder could my phone have been synched with?  Plus, no matter what I was using, I certainly don't want to lose those photos on the iPhone!
Of course, what I really want to know is:
"How do I use iTunes to automatically transfer the photos I've taken with the iPhone to my MacBook Pro?"
P.S.  I know how to transfer photos using iPhoto, but that's laborious and I really want to transfer/back up my photos as part of my iTunes ritual.

Answer 1

Plus, it clearly indicates that there are photos on my iPhone that could well be deleted as a result of synching!
The only photos on your iPhone that could be deleted when syncing with iTunes are photos that were transferred from your computer to your iPhone, which is selected under the Photos tab for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes. These photos should remain on your computer so will not be lost.
Do I really have to go through 800+ photos in my Camera Roll and laboriously determine if they have matches in my iPhoto library?
Photos in the Camera Roll are not included or touched during the iTunes sync process.
Photos transferred from your computer via the iTunes sync process are stored in the Photo Library.
The other odd thing is that there is a third album on my iPhone.  It contains the very same photos as in Photo Library, but is called something else and the photos are in a different order.  I am unable to delete it the way one can with a regular photo album that one has added.  What's up with that?
When transferring a photo album or folder or multiple abums/folders from your computer, all photos transferred from your computer are stored in the iPhone's Photo Library. The photos in the album or albums below that were transferred from your computer include a pointer to the original photos stored in the Photo Library. This way you can view the photos in an album only be selecting the album, or all photos in all albums transferred from your computer by selecting Photo Library. The same occurs when transferring only one album or folder or multiple albums or folders from your computer.
Photos transferred from your computer via the iTunes sync process can't be deleted direct from your iPhone. Photos transferred from your computer are deleted from the iPhone the same way - via the iTunes sync process.
Photos/videos in the Camera Roll can and should be imported by your computer as with any other digital camera, which is not handled by iTunes. When there are photos/videos in the Camera Roll, the iPhone is also detected as a digital camera when connected to a computer.