Advice on remote control camera viewable via PC

Looking to set something up at work using a camera set up on an arm (already got this) so that I can photograph something on the desk. The only problem is that I sometimes might need to take 400-500pictures in a sequence. I'd like a decent camera (maybe £500 budget) that I can control (and view) via a PC. Pictures could be taken either via the PC or by remote control. Power supply would also be nice to avoid changing batteries all the time.

Not sure if the Nikon D5000 has everything built in that would allow me to do all this but really just looking for any ideas as to how to accomplish this.

Do they need to be stunning photos? If not I'd suggest one of the Canon P+S that you can control with CHDK software - you can then use the intervalometer to take your sequence, or simply program your own script. Most of them take AC power via an adaptor to.

CHDK wiki: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

The setup thats used here is a ccd camera, combined with a set of bellows and a 50mm lens (macro setup), in theory you could use an IP camera. These cameras can capture still or video, but are supplied by a scientific company so cant say what make they are, they also come with software designed for a certain task. Will try and hunt around.

ther are both free and paid for tethered shooting solutions for nikon cameras, not sure if they are designed to remotely control the camera, or just from a nearby computer, one of the windows remote control apps could sort that. The latest version of nikon capture control uses live view so you can fully control the camera (apart from zoom).

Our kit is similar to

http://www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk/cameras.html

I got mine from Myhome247 but it won't work on this vista machine so need to find an alternative too!

I'll have a look at both these - we have a Canon A620 floating about in the office so i'll have a play with the CHDK stuff.

The mini CCTV looks good as well - I'll have a wee look at that in more detail.

Nikon offer Camera Control Pro software, but it's not free. However, if you have a dSLR with liveview, you can control the camera entirely from the PC via USB lead, including previewing video, focusing, setting aperture, exposure time, etc. Quite handy.

But if you don't have the camera, it's an expensive solution and probably more than what you need :)

We've just managed to 'borrow' a Nikon D300 with macro lens and Camera Control Pro 2 from a different dept which wasn't being used. I'll have a play with it tomorrow and see how we do. Probably overkill but for the time being it isn't going to cost us anything :)