How do I calculate camera height to fit a room set in frame from directly above?

Yes — you can estimate this in advance using field-of-view calculations. The key factors are:

• focal length
• sensor size / crop factor
• camera-to-subject distance

A 24mm lens does not have a fixed “frame size” by itself; the covered area depends on how far the camera is from the set and which camera sensor you use. For a full-frame camera like a 5D, use a field-of-view or dimensional FoV calculator: enter 24mm, crop factor 1.0, then adjust subject distance until the visible width/height matches your set dimensions.

A few important points:

• Lenses don’t have an aspect ratio; the sensor/frame does.
• A 5D’s native stills ratio is 3:2, not 16:9.
• If your final output is 16:9, you can crop to 16:9, but that reduces the captured height, so account for that in your calculations.
• A wider lens helps fit more in, but perspective distortion is mainly caused by camera position and subject geometry, not just the focal length.

So the practical answer is: use a FoV calculator with your intended camera format, lens, and framing ratio, then derive the needed studio ceiling height and maximum set size from that.