EOS R5 Eye detection and subject tracking not working in zone or spot

[LaneW]

My R5 is set up with 3 BBF. One is full frame, other a small zone and other spot.  Eye detection and subject tracking works in full frame but not in zone or spot. Is that feature only available in full frame focus?

[Waddizzle]

That is essentially correct.  

[p4pictures]

If this is the original EOS R5 then it's correct. Subject tracking only works when the camera is set to Face + Tracking AF or one of the three zone AF areas. For the Zone AF areas the tracking is only inside the area covered by the zone and the camera will not move the zone to follow the subject out of the zone.

Eye detection for people or animals is only possible with the Face + Tracking AF method. 

All other AF methods, spot, 1-point, expansion cross and surround do not track or detect the subject at all.

You may find that enabling the Initial AF point for servo AF is beneficial since this provides you with a target point to  direct the camera to a specific part of the frame to start detecting the subject. 

I've written about this on my blog https://www.p4pictures.com/2022/04/decide-where-to-focus-eos-r5-r6-face-detection/