Yes, there is a multitude of devices that could be used to film them in secluded areas but Survivor doesn't use them. It's in the players contracts that they have to be always available to be filmed and recorded so they really don't have a choice but to sit in the open. Survivor paid a lot of money for those HD cameras so they wouldn't want to have to use a small cam inside a boat that could be totally blocked out by a player's rear end.

Also, it could be a question of unionized workers. The crews would probably not accept being replaced by those devices and since they do need the staff whenever the player start moving around then they don't want their crew to mutiny!

I'm with you though on what makes good TV though. I'd rather have them wearing parkas like they had in Australia. Toughness should be in the challenges: More treks, more searches in the jungle for water sources. Or how about Survival competitions? Give them a compass and ask them to find one of their tribe mates that would be somewhere on the other side of the island. Challenges these days have nothing to do with surviving. Reward? Go find them! Hide two boxes of supplies, one large, one small, give them maps or send them on a scavenger hunt with clues along the way and good luck!

As for the type of shelter that the staff would build, we saw that in Palau's episode 4? Koror won a "deluxe" shelter...and it was open in front: