Can the loudness of a gun shot damage your typical microphone?  My girlfriend was recording me with her Sony video camera and a couple of days later the microphone went out.  She was about 20 feet away while video taping me. I'm convinced it was something else.  I've never heard of that kind of microphone being effected by loud sounds.  However, she still blames me and wont video tape me anymore since she got it repaired.  I think it was a coincidence and something else caused it like a malfunction.

Any comments?

USPC40

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Never heard of that hapening, even much closer than 20 feet.  I suppose it's possible if the microphone is almost ready to go anyway.

I guess it's possible. I've taken various camcorders to Knob Creek over the years and never had it happen.

The diaphram element of a microphone is very thin and delicate.  Yes, the impact of the rifle shot has probably damaged the mic.

i have seen this happen before a buddy of mine was big into recording drag racing meets.

the noise made by those dragsters caused a lot of strange stuff like causing the cam to film in b&w and knocking out his mike.

what he ended up dooing was placing a piece of pipe insulation around the mike and stuffing a rag inside the pipe insulation.

it did the job quite well for him

OK I don't feel stupid...I just got a Sony camcorder and have been recording my shooting sessions.  Before I started taping, I was wondering about the concussion of the rifle report with the safety of the camcorder microphone.  I have been setting up the camcorder about 12-15yds away from the end of the muzzle and so far have not had anything bad happen.  However, I noticed last time when I placed the camera closer, a milisecond before the heard shot, the camera would slightly jolt.

I want to tape my deer hunting in a couple weeks, get some action shots! So, I may put electrical tape over the microphone or rig something to protect it.  

I think it is a legitimate concern.