Subject tracking with Nikon Z6II firmware 1.2

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I've had a similar experience with people. If you are photographing a line of people from the side and one person looks away (now in profile), then there is no longer an eye box, or even a face box, and there's no way to pick them up again without turning off eye focus. Happens in the case of photographing musicians in a line on stage. You can lose a decisive moment when this happen. Cartier-Bresson never had to deal with this!
I might not be understanding what you describe, but I have noticed Eye AF will pick up eyes again immediately once the face turns back into view (it's quite good at this). Given that specific group scene, I probably wouldn't be in Eye/Face tracking - maybe Wide Area Eye/Face, but it really depends on what's in the frame. I'd likely just pop into Subject Tracking (Fn2 on my setup) and easily target the face / moving head I want it to stick with. Single Point, or Wide Area Small as well.
 
I might not be understanding what you describe, but I have noticed Eye AF will pick up eyes again immediately once the face turns back into view (it's quite good at this). Given that specific group scene, I probably wouldn't be in Eye/Face tracking - maybe Wide Area Eye/Face, but it really depends on what's in the frame. I'd likely just pop into Subject Tracking (Fn2 on my setup) and easily target the face / moving head I want it to stick with. Single Point, or Wide Area Small as well.

I'm referring to a line of musicians leading diagonally away from the photographer. If you are focused on one musician with eye focus, and he turns his head to profile, then by experience, I find that focus shifts away from him to the next available eye. This change by the musician can signal an interesting change in emotion which I would like to capture, but if I'm in eye focus the moment is lost as I fumble for a solution. It doesn't help that I am shooting wide open to isolate the subject.

The most reliable/predictable solution to this problem with the Z7ii is to use a single focus point moved within the viewfinder to suit the composition...Basically, an olde time, slow moving remedy.

The other solution is to switch to "Focus Tracking" and track on the face. This converts eye focus to tracking mode instead, and I use the fn2 custom button to quickly do this. Then, a quick dip to lock on the target, and recompose to shoot. This is quicker than switching to single point autofocus, but slightly less reliable, and you can't be sure of the exact point of focus.
 
Makes sense & agreed 👍🏻 I can see Eye / Face track leveling up someday to include a “stay on specific face” feature, for group shots. Like a temporary facial recognition feature. Fun to think about some potential new functionality with these Z bodies.
 
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