[robski]

The Power of Electricity should never be under estimated. On a somber note I recall seeing in a journal an image from a security camera the instant somebody was vaporised whilst in a Very High Voltage sub-station.

As Christine has stated most of the time lightning stikes cause damage in the home by traveling along overhead Power and telephone lines especially in country districts. There are protectors on these lines to try and limit lightning strike damage.

How well a piece of electronic equipment survives a lightning strike or High static volages depends on it's design. In some cases this is of prime concern or little or no thought is given to the matter. For example the Aircraft electronics must survive if a plane is hit by lightning. There are places which test an aircraft under such conditions.

If a piece of equipment gets a direct hit it makes no difference if the equipment is on or off. If the item has a metal case this will form a Faraday Cage and provide protection by screening the circuits. To illustrate this I was in a large building that that took a direct hit. I am glad that the dozen or so lightning conductor did there job. My collegue had his back 1 foot away from the window facing into the room. I was facing him and I saw the blue static running down the window. I called out to be aware but he had no idea what had just happened.

I think you would be very unlucky if a camera was damage by a nearby strike.

In my previous job I had worked on countless bits of domestic equipment damage by lightning. I think the worst case was where lightning had hit the TV ariel. It burnt out the Down lead, Vaporised the printed circuit on 2 of the boards, blew the On-off switch apart, Blew up the main power socket and distroyed the consumer unit. The TV was OFF. The woman was in the room at the time and the experience caused her to have a nervous breakdown. She was on pills to calm her nerves and would not go back into the living room for ages.