Nikon N4004
An autofocus SLR that Nikon's own flash documentation still treats as a special case, and that period photo magazines greeted with more shrugs than stars.
Overview
The N4004 sits in an odd corner of Nikon's autofocus history. Nikon's later SB-800 Speedlight manual keeps singling it out in the footnotes. The flash's programmed TTL auto mode works with the N4004, but only within an ISO window of 25 to 400. The manual spells that limit out for this body and its N4004s sibling. Even years after the camera left production, Nikon's documentation was still carving out exceptions for it.
The N4004 was sold exclusively in the United States. The SB-800 manual's regional sales notes confirm it, listing the N4004 and N4004s alongside the N6006, N5005, and N8008 as U.S.-only bodies. In other markets the same camera appeared as the F-401, with the F-401s corresponding to the N4004s. If you want a domestic-market example, look for the N4004 badge. Importing from Europe or Japan will more likely turn up an F-401.
Flash compatibility is where the N4004 gets frustrating. The SB-800 manual is blunt: the Speedlights SB-11, SB-14, SB-140, and SB-21B cannot be used with the F-401/N4004 or F-401s/N4004s as either master or remote units in corded multiple-flash setups. That is an unusually specific exclusion. Anyone building a period-correct multi-flash rig around this body has a narrower pool of Speedlights than they might assume. The SB-800 itself can still be used with the N4004 for TTL multiple flash via cords, provided the flash units are TTL-compatible. The older SB-11/14/140/21B family is off the table entirely.
Aperture control with a CPU lens on the N4004 follows the same logic Nikon laid out for the F-401x/N5005 and F-401s/N4004s. The photographer sets the aperture on the camera's aperture dial, then mirrors that value on the SB-800's LCD panel. The camera must be in Aperture-Priority Auto or Manual mode. Programmed Auto and Shutter-Priority Auto won't allow aperture selection at all.
Period reception was mixed at best. A July 1991 issue of HiFI-Stereo (July 1991, p.77) ran the N4004 in a product-listing spread alongside video processors, camcorders, and blank tape. That is catch-all buyer's-guide placement, not a review. It's not a rave, but it's not a pan either.
The available documentation leaves a lot out. There is no verified production year range in the source material, no confirmed shutter speed range, no metering specification, no body material, and no weight. Anyone claiming a definitive spec sheet for the N4004 is working from something other than the documents this archive has access to. What is confirmed is the U.S.-only sales territory, the F-401/F-401s equivalence, the ISO 25-400 TTL auto flash limitation, and the SB-11/14/140/21B incompatibility in corded multi-flash.
For a collector, the N4004 is a footnote camera, the body that Nikon's own flash manuals kept flagging as an exception. It's a reasonable pickup for anyone building a late-80s Nikon autofocus shelf. The F-401 badge is the more common find internationally, and the N4004 name marks a U.S.-market example.
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