The best solution is to avoid getting spots in the first place. Always turn the camera off before changing lenses. Keep the lens opening facing down and complete the change as quickly as possible. I have worked for an estate agent photographing around 400 houses a year for 11 years and changing lenses at every house. Never have I needed to clean the sensor on my EOS 5 Mk2 & 3 bodies.

For me Canon has a major selling point over Nikon and that is that it makes all its major components in house and controls quality. Recently a friend with his Nikon had the well known problem of oil from the shutter putting spots on the sensor. Talking to the repair lab he found his model was assembled in various factories outside Japan and the actual assembly differed between factories - the problem only affected those from one factory. What way of doing business is that!!!

For slides I have the Nikon Coolscan 4000ED. It cost £1200 getting on for 20 years ago but still beats using a flatbed. Nikon haven't updated the software for years, so I now use Vuescan, which does everything which the Nikon did. It is regularly updated free, so it can be used on all the latest scanners, slide and flatbed. For a flatbed I use a Canon and again for simplicity run it through the same Vuescan software. Would thoroughly recommend.

Lots of good advice here. I use NTI Back-up Now EZ6 which I've set to do a back-up every day at 17.00. However a back-up drive may protect you against a hard drive failure within your PC but if it is on your computer desk it will not protect against theft or house fire. I have a second back-up drive which I store away from my house and bring home once a month, do another back-up, and then return it to it's distant home. These days our whole family history can be stored on our computers, photos and more, and you cannot be too careful when planning for worst case scenarios.

Agree with others' advice but wonder whether this is a Nikon DSLR. They have had troubles on some models with the shutters spraying oil on the sensor. The guy I know who had this got it fixed by Nikon under warranty and got some compensation.

I have always understood that Canon Photo printers have separate print heads. Years ago I had blocked jets on my i9900 and a new head assembly cost me £65. My current 9500 Mk2 is constructed the same but so far no issues. Incidentally in the UK several quality compatible ink suppliers guarantee the printer should their ink cause a problem. Also there are cleaning cartridges as already mentioned. Amazon and eBay would be my first call. Good luck.

I would advise the 150-600. I have got good results with my EOS 70D and Canon 70-300L IS but have just purchased the Tamron 150-600 G2 for this year's Air Tattoo at Fairford. This is said to be the best airshow in the world and I attend most years but I've seen other's photos with a 150-600 and the extra reach makes a huge difference.
You may have gathered that I'm from the UK.
Whatever you decide I hope you get some great photos.

I understand why Adobe went to subscription. In my photographic society hardly any members had legal copies before CC. Adobe were being robbed blind by illegal copies of Photoshop. CC seems to have stopped this and rightly so.