I've been doing stuff with high end cameras for years.
If you are just doing stills, you can probably go Nikon and be OK.
But if you plant to do any stuff with video you should strongly consider Canon. They have been leading for a while in that space, both in terms of hardware and software.
Even though this new subscription for webcamming is kind of absurd, don't shut yourself out of better tech just because of it... especially if you do not plan to use it for that.
However if you are interested in video it's not like there aer no other options... maybe Sony.
It's a tricky time for camera manufacturers now as the demand is dramatically shrinking so probably this fee is a desperation move on the part of Canon... I wouldn't hold it against them too strongly. They are not doing this from a place of strength.