The paper reports behaviour of engineering materials for different kinds of notches, i.e. having U, V shapes. Their variants with respect to dimensions are illustrated in static and fatigue tests. The influence of these types of geometrical imperfections on material fatigue is presented using variations of the W¨ohler curve, number of cycles to failure and the fatigue notch factor. Results of experiments conducted by the use of the Digital Image Correlation system called 4M Aramis are illustrated. Courses of tensile characteristics of the 41Cr4 steel, obtained by means of both techniques: extensometer and DIC are compared. They indicated that the DIC technique can be a good tool for determination of mechanical properties. The equivalent strain full-field distributions on specimens tensioned with and without imperfections up to material fracture are presented. The influence of U and V notches on variations of tensile curves is shown.