An ophthalmic surgical system includes a first imaging system configured to generate a first image of an eye, a second imaging system configured to generate a second image of the eye, and an image registration system to receive the first image generated by the first imaging system, receive the second image generated by a second imaging system, track a location of a distal tip of a surgical instrument in the first image, define a priority registration region in the first image, register the priority registration region in the first image with a corresponding region in the second image, and update the registration of the priority registration region in the first image with the corresponding region in the second image in real time, without registering portions of the first or second images that are outside the registration regions.