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One of the main advantages of optical wireless flash control systems is that they don't require anything extra: at least with many cameras, they work with the built-in flash, and can often control (with TTL, even) slave flashes with no added adapters. Olympus has such a system, and it allows one to have multiple flash groups and adjust their power from the camera body.

However, the Olympus O-MD E-M5 has no built-in flash. It comes with a very compact clip-on / hotshoe unit, the FL-LM2, and this can act as a wireless controller.

Having to carry a little clip-on thing negates that main advantage, though, so I was wondering if there are any solutions which work with Olypus which allow power levels to be set from the camera body itself (presumably, from the radio controller unit).

I don't need TTL (although that'd be nice). I just want to be able to take test shots, check, and adjust power until I'm happy, without having to go around to each flash manually. (Getting assistants to yell at would be an alternative, I suppose, but it's not practical for everyone.)

PocketWizard appears to have some products that will do what I want, but as I understand it, these require a system-dedicated controller, and Nikon and Canon are the only options. Is there something I could do for Olympus, or is optical wireless my best bet?

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Are you talking about third party slave flashes? Because you can use Olympus FL-36R/50R/600R (as remote flashes) with the body in RC mode and can control the power of those flashes. Yes, it's controlled in flash pulses. There is no wireless (radio) option with Olympus. Even though in the manuals it sounds like it's radio wireless, it's actually all optically (flash pulses). – BBking Oct 5 '12 at 5:07
The question is about any product (probably from a third party, but could be from Olympus) that would add radio capability. I know the Olypus system is optical (see first sentence above); the problem is that the main advantage of optical is control from the camera body, and for camera bodies where a clip-on accessory flash would be needed anyway, I'd rather use a radio controller. The flashes themselves could be be third party or Olympus — the only requirement is that power be adjustable remotely, via TTL or otherwise. – mattdm Oct 5 '12 at 12:44

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Unfortunately, no. Optical wireless with Olympus flashes is the only way to control the power of remote flashes with the Olympus set up.

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