Abstract. We report the study of dust extinction properties in some early type galaxies, using optical deep broadband images. Wavelength dependence of dust extinction was studied by obtaining extinction map and extinction curves for these galaxies. The extinction curves of these galaxies run parallel to that of the Milky way, suggesting that the properties of dust in these galaxies are similar to that of our Galaxy. The value of R_v, the ratio of total extinction in V band to selective extinction E(B-V) between B and V band, for these galaxies, lies in the range 2.06 - 3.56, while its canonical value is 3.1 for the Milky way. Total dust content for these galaxies obtained using dust extinction and is found to be in the range of 10³ to 10⁴ M_⊙, which is an order of magnitude smaller than those derived using IRAS flux density, suggesting that a significant amount of diffusely distributed dust remains undetected in the optical bands. Distribution of dust is compared with those of hot and ionized gas, to look for the possible physical association between different forms of interstellar medium.