Where can I get grey card?

I've been reading up on metering techniques and greycard comes into it a lot. No photo labs or camera shops sell it. Do I need to contact a pro photography equipment supplier? Or is it ok to buy some ordinary grey card from a bookstore?

You need to ask about the grey cards, most camera shops do sell them. At least the one's where I live do. Don't just buy a piece of grey stationary, what's important about the grey card is that it is 18% grey, which makes it a specific grey and not an ordinary grey (though ordinary may work for you anyway). To tell you the truth, I don't think it matters much. I've shot my custom WB from both an 18 grey and some nice asphalt and got the same results. The key is having a good midtone to work from, especially when dealing with tricky metering and WB. Some use them, some dont. I don't. Now, I don't doubt you couldn't find one at a photolab because they don't have much to do with cameras (only the finished pictures), a place like Wolf may not be advanced enough, but you should have several camera shops around your area that do, you just have to ask someone.

any camera store, probably not at dig box electronic stores like Big Buys.

I've looked before and couldn't find any. All camera shops I've asked at say they've never heard of it. Don't bother though, because in the real world, there's not really much time to use grey card - like for shooting weddings for example.
Antoni (who I believe is Lazarus ie risen from the dead) says you can meter off the palm of your hand and add a stop. He claims all palms, no matter how dark or light your skin is are exactly the same. Wrong. I've looked at the palms of some workmates of mine (from Zimbabwe) and they are in fact a lot darker than mine. I guess going to photo school isn't that great after all.

So anyway, for white balance, just use the presets in your camera and you'll be fine. Or the correct film if that's what you're using. And for the correct exposure, decide for yourself what the correct exposure is for that scene. Because I wouldn't let a computer (or a piece of grey paper for that matter) tell me what the correct exposure is. Otherwise I may as well ask my camera what the correct composition, lighting, wb, focus, shutterspeed, aperture, subject and camerabag is too.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...

wow... that's strange! most camera stores should sell them. they shouldn't be too difficult to find. did you ask the people who work there?

if you need to buy it online then amazon.com has pleanty.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll...

If you have time and if you have the knowledge, a grey card is very useful in taking a meter reading or even setting a custom white balance, but you already know that.

I got this one a short while ago and find that it is very easy to use and quite helpful. I bought it direct from the maker via eBay. They have TONS of information about it on-line.

http://stores.ebay.com/digitalimageflow
$18.99 with free chipping direct from maker via eBay - http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Grey-Kard-Wh...

B&H also sells the identical item for $21.95 plus shipping. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52...

Anybody who uses their palm to take a reading does so day in and day out and only has to know what THEIR reading means to them. You would not read a random palm in a crowd and use that as a basis for your exposure. You just need "something" that is more or less the same reflectance from day to day to use as a starting point. Antoni reads his own palm and then makes his own STANDARDIZED adjustment for the fact that he knows his palm is not neutral grey. Some people prefer to carry a grey card and some people prefer to learn how to read from their palm and make adjustments. Either approach is quite acceptable.

If you have the grey card that I just linked, you can fan it out so that all three cards show in a non-critical portion of your shot so you can immediately make adjustments for black, white and grey in Photoshop and them either clone or crop the card set out of the final image. It has sure saved me a lot of work.