But, when connected via USB, you do swipe down and select the connection mode (most common for file transfer would be MTP, but PTP is available, too)? …
Else …
What exactly does it say in Settings - About phone - Build number?
Which OS do you use on the computer (Windows/Linux/MacOS)?
And if you kept the SD card as external storage (as opposed to integrating it into Internal Storage), you are sure that your camera App is saving the photos on the SD card and not in Internal Storage?