It is annoying, but there is a simpler method than moving the camera around until the NPC's pop in. Holding X on your keyboard will prioritize the NPC icons (sorry I don't know what it would be for gamepad if there is an option there). Ground icons are a bit... harder since people cover them. If for some reason you changed the keybind for Target Filters, you can find it under Keybind - System.

It'd be wonderful if we could limit the player characters manually, but I doubt we'll ever get that, at least not any time soon

I know this doesn't solve the annoying issue caused by SE's coding, but it might help a bit in the long run.