EOS 5D Mark II screen won't turn on

[EthanTheW]

I just received this camera from my Dad after many years of it sitting in his closet. Now that I have turned it on I have come to realise that the screen is not turning on but still works as I can set it to the CA mode and it turns on and that also when I take a photo the Cards photo limit does not count down.

Any help is appreciated, thanks

[shadowsports]

Greetings ,

The first thing I would do is remove the memory card, lens and.battery.  Now reinsert the battery. Use the rear LCD and reset the cameras settings main and custom to defaults. 

I'm not 100% clear what your issue is from your description. Is the top LCD not working or the rear LCD?

Following this I would test my existing battery with an ohms meter and measure the voltage it was outputting.  If it's stable, the LCD or screen is probably not going to work and there is some issue with the body.  At that point I would look into replacement.  A used 5D2 body is about $295.  Canon no longer services this body and finding a shop that would work on it would probably be very difficult.  If you did find a shop that would service it, diagnosis and repair would probably be prohibitive.  My point is it's not worth repairing even if you could.  Keep in mind this is a 16-year-old camera

What lenses did you receive with the camera?  One or more of them may be of value.  

Depending on the outcome, it's likely best to leave this camera retired and plan on a replacement body and possibly an adapter if any of the lenses are valuable.