KR is the last person I would ask about a lens... You better check photozone.de or Bjorn... I have no experience with 35/1.4 AI-S but I've heard that's a good lens. The two main complaints are regarding the higher price tag and also regarding the fact that is a bit soft wide open.
Soft wide open. No offense to Bjorn or Ken I think it's best to test things out for yourself. I have not had anyone complain about soft images wide open with my Nikkor 35 1.4 AIS on the D3.F3T . In fact people seems to like the lenses signature wide open and stopped down you can cut diamonds with it. At least on the two copies I have owned.
I have thread on the Nikon cafe on the Nikkor 35 1.4 AIS as well as posting quite a few images on the MF thread.
In my opinion the 35 1.4 is quite soft wide open. Lots of veiling glare and lots of CA (loCA?). Compared to the rokinon 85 1.4 which I use it with (35/85 kit) it is soft at 1.4.
At 2.0-2.8 it starts to clean up very nicely and is fully usable.
Gregory, your first shot is stunning! It's not first time when I see it but the impression remain strong. Wow!
I agree what you say regarding conducting personal tests of a lens... in general this is what am I doing... but at 35 I already have a wonderful copy of Zeiss 35/2 Distagon and because I need very much an AF lens too on 35 I'm doing right now strong negotiations between my brain and my bank account toward the new 35/1.4 G... So 35/1.4 AIS is away from my range at this time.
This is a lens best left to trying out if possible. Seems to be a lens you like or hate based on the threads around fm.
I had a sample once and I liked it. Lens was mentioned as good as new but far from it so I returned it since price was kind of high for it (don't mind not mint glass....just not partial to not excellent condition glass getting charged as that lol).
May own this own day if I can find a sample and price I like. Not partial to the g pricing and the zeiss will be too rich for my blood as well.
Swing by alternative gear threads and search for more work, some more ai-s samples there. This lens seems to love canon bodies as well lol...some nice work posted by canon users in the threads I saw way back.
I love my sample wide-open. It's plenty sharp for my own taste.
Lots of fun shooting B&W pictures with it on FF.
I think sometime people overemphasize over sharpness
And well, it isn't necessarily only sharpness that lacks WO imo, but also micro contrast and overall contrast. I like my images to pop, also wide open.. But tastes differ of course. The way the 35 1.4 acts wide open makes me use it less than I else wise would. So I'm looking forward to trying the rokinon, new nikon and zeiss ..
The 35mm 1.4 AIS is brilliant. Best rendering lens I own, and not too bad if you have contrasty subjects at the center at 1.4. The out of focus areas are so smooth, and the transition to them from the in focus areas is just as nice.
This is on a D2X. The D3X and for sure D3 would be more forgiving for wide open center sharpness. Also, this is after some dust was introduced inside it during an iris repair, so maybe it could be even better than what I've experienced.
I really like it and look forward to using it on a full frame camera.
The several nikon 35/1.4 Ai/Ais lenses I've had over the years were all the same: Not soft(unsharp) wide open, but with a low-contrast effect(undercorrected spherical aberration, I'm told) that really shows up if the photo has a generally bright field. For bright or lit subjects in a dark field the effect can be, at times, unnoticeable. So technically, it IS sharp wide open. And this lens does have one of the smoothest out of focus transitions ever seen by me. Since I dislike the dreamy, lowcon effect at f/1.4 to about f/2.8, especially in B&W, I dumped mine when I got a ZF 35/2. I do miss that smoothness sometimes, however.
I don't own this lens and it is doubtful I ever will because if I were going to spend $600 for an MF lens at this focal range I'd likely add a couple of hundred and buy the Zeiss ZF.1. I'm very familiar with Gregory's excellent work with this lens and I imagine he's had it for some time. At the moment KEH is asking $789 for a LN copy of this lens and $645 for an EX+. For the shooting I do, typically during the day, I'll be content with the 35 f/2 AI-s until that day when I can no longer resist the siren call from Zeiss...
Frankly, I'm surprised at the rather visceral reaction people have to Ken Rockwell's assessment of lenses. One doesn't have to be a fan of his self-promotion to appreciate the often thorough approach he takes to evaluating lenses. And his decades of experience using Nikon gear makes his evaluation of older glass very useful. I wouldn't dream of making a lens decision without consulting BOTH Bjorn Rorslett and Ken Rockwell, in addition to a number of other resources. Here is a link to his assessment of the 35 f/1.4 AI-s for anyone who is curious about how he approaches lens evaluation.
You better check photozone.de or Bjorn... I have no experience with 35/1.4 AI-S but I've heard that's a good lens. The two main complaints are regarding the higher price tag and also regarding the fact that is a bit soft wide open.
So 35/1.4 AIS is away from my range at this time. 
