We present optical ( U BV RI ) and near-infrared ( Y JHK ) photometry of the normal Type Ia supernova 2004S .
We also present eight optical spectra and one near-IR spectrum of SN 2004S .
The light curves and spectra are nearly identical to those of SN 2001el .
This is the first time we have seen optical and IR light curves of two Type Ia supernovae match so closely .
Within the one parameter family of light curves for normal Type Ia supernovae , that two objects should have such similar light curves implies that they had identical intrinsic colors and produced similar amounts of ^ { 56 } Ni .
From the similarities of the light curve shapes we obtain a set of extinctions as a function of wavelength which allows a simultaneous solution for the distance modulus difference of the two objects , the difference of the host galaxy extinctions , and R _ { V } .
Since SN 2001el had roughly an order of magnitude more host galaxy extinction than SN 2004S , the value of R _ { V } = 2.15 ^ { +0.24 } _ { -0.22 } pertains primarily to dust in the host galaxy of SN 2001el .
We have also shown via Monte Carlo simulations that adding rest frame J -band photometry to the complement of BV RI photometry of Type Ia SNe decreases the uncertainty in the distance modulus by a factor of 2.7 .
A combination of rest frame optical and near-IR photometry clearly gives more accurate distances than using rest frame optical photometry alone .