LLC Loc: Ontario, Canada

You are correct... But OP still can catalog equipment, take pictures, set prices.
Just selling part will be easier - no arguing with buyers, no negotiations, no packaging, no shipping, no returns.
Auctioneer will do that part and will charge buyer for the service.
Just another option in the process...

Foto Jo Loc: Smoky Mountains of North Carolina

I have suggested donating this years to a college. A high school is an excellent idea also.
I thank you.

BebuLamar

If I die I don't want my wife's friend donates my camera collection to the college. The college kids don't appreciate them any way. They think you give them junk.
I think the dead man would thank you in his grave if you get the most money out of his collection for his wife.

photoman43

All of the earlier suggestions are very good ones. I would like to add that eBay may be something that could work too for certain items. You might find a church thrift shop in your area that does ebay transactions for you . They may charge a fee to do it but that fee may fund a food pantry or other such charitable service.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Take some nice pictures of each piece, the box too and anything else that might have come from the factory, and put it all on eBay. Use a starting bid of $1. It WILL all sell. Be sure to start collecting boxes and packing material to keep it all safe during shipping. Use eBay to print shipping label and use them as your ship to so that they are responsible for the items getting to their destinations.

domcomm Loc: Denver, CO

I would treat KEH like I do Comcast, or any other company. If you don't get good service from one person, I hang up and call back again. They have numerous people answering the phones, so you're bound to get a "bad apple" once in awhile. When you call back, you'll get a different person, and they may be much better.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

A category that can have some value are the lenses from photo enlargers. These can be adapted to be manual macro lenses used for focus stacking. There is an active niche market for some enlarger lenses for that reason. But the chore of figuring them out and selling at a going price might be significant enough to not necessarily want to bother.

WJB Loc: Salisbury, MD

Shucks!

Thanks Photo Jo.

Besperus Loc: Oregon

Community Colleges, high schools would be excited to receive donated equipment for students and staff to use teaching and recording events. Not saying give it all away. Many cities have stores where, locally, used film and digital equipment is in high demand. Some of this could yield some valuable return and ease the financial burden.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Do not be too quick to dismiss the value of that old gear, as some responses have suggested.

There is huge variation in the value of film cameras. I say this from experience. I've been buying, selling and collecting vintage gear for many years. For example, Konica was the "Kodak" of Japan, but even older than Kodak. They sold a huge array of cameras over the years. I have examples of every one of their 35mm cameras from WWII onward and even a few of the pre-war models. Many of them are of little value... maybe $25 to $75, tops. But one 1960 model I have is extremely rare and easily worth $2000+ in almost any condition. I also have the 50mm lens it was sold with and a much rarer 135mm lens that was made for use on it. I even saw one of those cameras that looked like it had fallen off the back of a truck and been run over by another auction for upwards of $600! Spare parts, I suppose. The same is true of other brands... There are often more valuable and collectable models hiding among many more common ones that sell for little money. The problem is telling one from the other.

One thing for sure... you will not get anywhere near the full value of it all selling the whole bunch in a single batch. Only a serious dealer will consider that and they will only pay "wholesale" prices. They'll look at the individual, specific items, especially the rarer and more value, add up a value and offer you about half of that. This leaves them some room for profit reselling the gear.

The widow would certainly see much greater return if the items were sold individually at auction. This is a lot of work, though.

The first step is to do a very detailed and precise inventory of everything involved. This is actually a good idea whether you and she decide to sell yourselves or sell the lot to a dealer and the inventory should include all accessories as well as both working and cosmetic condition of each item. Once the inventory is done, you can research the recent selling price ranges for items on eBay. Some items may surprise you. Probably some for being very valuable or others for having less value than you expected. It's a big job, but necessary.

At the very least, once you're armed with this info, you will have a much better idea if an offer to buy the lot from a dealer is a fair price or not. Purchasing a large lot, it will almost always be significantly discounted from typical retail value of the items.

The alternative is to auction the stuff yourself via eBay or local sales through consignment or Craigslist. There will be costs involved... auction or consignment and shipping fees, for example. Every item should be thoroughly photographed and described as best possible, too. There also is some cost to packing things for safe, secure shipping. Some auctions will bring more than expected, while others will bring less. Overall, selling via global auctions will likely net around 50% to 100% more than simply selling the entire lot to a dealer, but it takes work and is time consuming. Speak with the widow to see if she might be willing to learn to do and handle some of it herself.

If you and the widow decide to sell stuff at auction yourselves, there will likely be some items that just don't have much value, which you might donate to a local Goodwill or similar.... or if usable gear, to a school. There also may be collectors for that particular brand.

If you had an inventory of the gear... at least the major stuff... I'd be happy to look over it and give you some feedback.

It may pay off big time to have the original boxes and all that came with the gear. My dad gave me his Leica cameras and lenses some years ago. While they generally have good value as collectables, the star of the show... so to speak... is a very nice (near new appearance) GIII from around 1958/59. That was the last of the screwmount models, is considered by most to be the best of that series and is one of the most collectable (aside from some of the specialty variants or very early pre-war models). I never plan to sell it and it would need service and a new shutter before I could use it, but I'm pleased to have it and the original box for it, the factory inspection certificate and even the original hand written 1959 sales receipt (dad paid $100 for the camera and $50 for the 5cm f/1.5 Summarit lens on it, at a military PX in England). Just the boxes alone for Leica gear can be worth a $100 bill!

Another place you might look for info or even contact to sell the lot is Pacific Rim Camera.... located in Salem, Oregon, I think. They deal almost exclusively in vintage gear. They're a good resource to find out values, have some info pages on their website, and are a wholesale buyer of gear.

My sister and I are facing a similar quandary about a huge coin and stamp collection we inherited from our grandfather (through my mother, who initially inherited and maintained it during her lifetime). We're talking a really huge collection.... As far as I know, his only hobby for 80+ years... He was involved with and well known in both the American Numismatic Association and the American Philatelic Society. Do we try to break it all up and sell things individually or try find someone to buy the whole lot? I know some of the stamps are highly collectable, but a lot are near worthless... face value or less. Coins aren't a whole lot better. Talk to me about camera gear, which I know a lot about or how to find out anything I don't. But I'm a fish out of water when it comes to coins and stamps!

blumoon722

You could try Facebook Marketplace. Try taking pics of a few items at first to try it. Research the prices.
Meet people at a public place. You get cash and don't have to deal with shipping.

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

I'm wondering if you could make a list and post it here and see what kind of response you could get.

adallas

I have donated a hand full of cameras (film and DSLR) to a local high school for their photojournalism classes.

ELNikkor

The boxes may hinder shipping, but are valuable to some collectors. You could offer to send the equipment in the original box for $10 more, to compensate for the hassle.

John7199 Loc: Eastern Mass.

Should he also include shutter count?