Power on, no screen

[benvendetta]

My daughter is currently on holiday in Peru and has taken my EPL5 and 12-50. Today she powered up the camera and the blue light came on but the screen was blank. I have advised her to take the battery out overnight and then refit it. Other than that, any ideas as to a solution to this?

[pdk42]

Check that the lens locking pin in properly engaging. If it's depressed then the camera will behave in the way you say.

[Wee man]

May be to simple but does the screen have a three way view ?
Screen on. Menu screen and a screen off like the EM1.
Could it be that button has been pushed? Just a thought.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[benvendetta]

I have decided to try and get my EPL5 working as it is probably not economical to get it fixed professionally. I thought that the problem might have been the ribbon cable to the screen but if I power the camera up and look at the screen at a particular angle I can just about make out information on it, which changes when I scroll through the menu. So something must be getting through to the screen from the camera. It might be that the screen has turned off for all intents and purposes but if I can't really see the wording in the menu (it is just too indistinct) how can I turn it back on? I don't know if the menu system for either my EM1 or the Pen F is similar but if they are I could try and scroll to the correct menu through button pushes.

[AMc]

I have an E-PL5 on my desk at the moment, I can't see any way to disable the screen in the menus,
The only time I got that to happen in use was connecting the VF4 and pressing the button in the VF4 as the eye sensor isn't supported on this camera.

The only vaguely related thing I can see is there is a setting for the Backlight on the screen to dim when the camera is on but not being used.
To get there...
Press Menu
Press Down x3
Press Right
Press Down x3
Press Right
Press Down x14
Press OK
The options are top to bottom 8 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, hold (off)

The manual is here.
http://cs.olympus-imaging.jp/en/supp...man_epl5_e.pdf

There is an old price list for Olympus repairs from July 2014 which lists a fixed price of £135.30 which is probably beyond economic.
https://www.olympus.co.uk/site/media...r6__GBP_UK.pdf

I can confirm that if you take the battery out for a weekend then the camera forgets what time it is and resets most of the user settings.
I'm afraid I think you've had a screen failure or perhaps just a backlight failure.

If you are handy with a screw driver and are prepared to take a punt on an eBay part a new screen is available from China for £25 there are several suppliers this is just an example
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-LCD-D...EAAOSwKIpWANG6

[OM USer]

If you can see vague information that looks like it is the menu (good choice as it is high contrast) then the backlight leds have gone. You can often see a bit more detail if you shine a torch at a particular angle onto the screen as the light bounces off the back layer and through the LCD. Does sound like a cable issuse.

In the short term can you use a viewfinder?

[MJ224]

Potentially the rest of the camera works just fine..........

Hopefully it will take and store photos on the SD card. Thus if all else fails, your lass can continue photoing in a rudimentary way.

Shame to loose an otherwise good camera, though she could just go and buy another................

[benvendetta]

The tip to use a torch to see the display more clearly was useful and i found the relevant part of the menu ok. Unfortunately i still couldnt get the display back so it is likely to be the backlight. I did try to remove the screws a while back to see if the ribbon cable was loose but despite getting them all out, nothing came apart. I fear that if I order a screen off eBay I won't be able to fit it due to this. BTW it is not my daughter's camera and she was just borrowing it. She isn't really into photography and prefers to use her mobile phone 😔 so won't be buying me a replacement 😣😣😣

[pdk42]

Buy a cheap VF3 and see if it works with that.

[MJ224]

Originally Posted by pdk42

Buy a cheap VF3 and see if it works with that.

Good idea. Lateral thinking..............

[peak4]

The seem to sell on ebay for north of £100, normally more. According to Olympus' fixed price repair list, the cost is £135, which would come with all bits mended and a warranty.
A spare screen from China is about £25, so I guess it depends on how much value you place on the camera. ( a guitar plectrum, or a shaved down redundant credit card often works for prizing bits apart without damage.)

[benvendetta]

It's not the end of the world if I don't get it fixed. I don't particularly need the camera but I did enjoy its tiny form factor with the 17mm f1.8 lens attached. I will have to sell it as non working I guess. Someone out there may be keener than me to get it going!