I read this on Wikipedia in the "HDV" page:

"Discovery Channel chose HDV handhelds for shooting Deadliest Catch despite their reduced light sensitivity and a large depth of focus, because smaller cameras were better for crew safety and they destroy several dozen of cameras per series."

Wow, sort of took me back. How many are "several dozen" ...3-4 - 5? Anybody know anything about what kills the most cameras there? Also, what mics are they using ...stock Sony, or another? I didn't find the stock Sony mic outstanding.

In these articles, they claim that each season they need another 50-60 Sony HVR-Z5U and HVR-Z7U HDV cameras and that saltwater is mostly what ruins them. They only use the onboard camera mics since there's no sound man on-board.

Deadliest Catch Insider, 360 Degree Camera Lens Video University (http://www.videouniversity.com/video-entrepreneur/deadliest-catch-360-degree-camera-lens)

HowStuffWorks "Film Crew" (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/deadliest-catch5.htm)

Interesting links. That's pretty amazing. I wonder how many of them they just 'plunked' into the sea before unboxing the next one..