Single shot laser damage studies have been performed using an RF-excited long pulse laser and a TEA-CO2-laser with pulse durations of 1.2 ms and 100 ns, respectively. Besides bare diamond turned copper mirrors with different metal and dielectric coatings, ZnSe-optics with selected coating types were tested. The temporal damage behavior in the long pulse regime was investigated on the basis of a damage detection system with a time resolution of 10 microsecond(s) . The dependence of the damage threshold on the intensity is discussed in consideration of the integral absorptance of the coatings. The measured damage thresholds of this detection system are compared to those obtained by Nomarski/darkfield microscopy. The local variation of the laser induced damage threshold is correlated to the corresponding photothermal deflection signal, reflectance, and defect density of the coated surfaces.