This lens gets a lot of bad press in the forums because it is 1) Plastic, and 2) AFS.
My primary use for this lens is weddings. I have been using it since April 2009. This has become my primary lens. First, I love how light this is because it´s plastic. I have some of the older gen lenses and they are great, but they are heavy. You can shoot with this lens all day without noticing it. The AFS performance on my copy is fantastic. I have had no complaints about this lens ever. Instead of doing extensive testing (which has its place), I have shot roughly 20 weddings with this thing. The Bokeh this thing puts out has become essential for my photographical look. I routinely shoot this at 1.4 or 2, and rarely take it past 2.8. It´s wonderfully sharp at 1.4, and is rock solid at 2. This lens has some vignetting at 1.4, which is even more pronounced when you add an ND filter (provided you want to shoot 1.4 on a sunny day). As a wedding photographer, I would be adding vignetting in post anyway, so for me this is absolutely ideal.
This lens has become a standard for me, and has changed my photography for the better. If you are thinking about jumping into the Primes camp, or simply want a really really fast standard, this is your lens. If you are shooting DX this functions like the 85mm, but with all the benefits of the AFS (quiet and fast). If you do get this though, be prepared to start pining away for faster glass.

Great lens. Tack sharp, great bokeh. Yes, the autofocus is a little slower than you would expect but it´s still fine. Wonderful portrait lens.

This is a good general purpose normal lens that delivers a bright, crisp image viewfinder image. The bokeh wide open is pleasant. Overall, its pictorial qualities are very nice. Those who have a DX sensor will be happier with this lens than those with an FX sensor. I´m taking one star off for disappointing edge sharpness and contrast even at f/5.6 to f/8. Another star off for barrel distortion that I consider extreme for this focal length. This lens performs more like a zoom than a prime and cannot be used for critical work, I´m sorry to say.

Super-Sharp images at super-fast speeds. The 50mm 1.4/G is a fantastic ´´standard´´ lens. Great for shallow Depth of Field, handheld night photography, and all around fast lens. On DX cameras, a fantastic Portrait lens, on FX a wonderful fixed lens.
This would have earned 5 Stars from me with Nano Coating, as the lens has some significant ghosting and flaring when shooting anything reflective, moreso than any other Nikkor lens I own, some with and some without Nano Coating. All around solid, durable lens, decent focus speed for the price, and fantastically sharp even down to f/1.8. f/1.4 is slightly soft but still outstanding all the way to the corners.

I have been shooting for over thirty years and I have always had a 50mm 1.4 in my bag. This is one of those reliable, fast and great focus lenses that I can use for landscape, people, action and close-ups.

I have used the Nikkor 50 1.4 all the way back to the non AI lenses. This one is simple, it out does them all.

This must have lens is the foundation of all shooters. I never leave home without this lens since it is tack sharp and can be used in extremely low light conditions. It also renders people´s faces the most realistically of any of my numerous Nikon Lenses. Whether I am shooting weddings or out shooting editorially, this lens always finds its way onto my Nikon D3 (and F4s) prior to that (older 50mm 1.4 version).

This lens is the Low Light King!! I use this lens for very low light Indoor Sporting Events and it´s super fast focusing and superb sharpness and resolution!! It´s a little bigger than its predecessor, but well worth its price.

I love the images that I get with this lens. I shoot weddings and it is a great performer in low-light situations. It is very sharp and has very good contrast and color. The focus is a little slow, but I don´t feel that I have missed any shots because of the focus speed. Especially given the price, I couldn´t be more pleased with this lens.