Within several decades astrogeodetic observations were carried out visually therefore were required not only the best devices, but also the qualified observers. The invention of CCDs caused significant technological changes in geodetic astronomy. Digital zenith camera systems (DZCS) based on the CCDs led to improvements in the degree of automation, efficiency and accuracy of determining of vertical deflection. Thanks to a fully automated system of registration of this new experimental model has eliminated «human factor». The existing DZCS have accuracy at least at the level of traditional methods and considerably surpass them in performance reaching the accuracy of definition of vertical deflection in 0,1″ and better within 30 min. Astrogeodetic method using DZCS provides direct determination of vertical deflection by comparing the geodetic and astronomical coordinates of location. This paper describes astrogeodetic method and existing DZCS.