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 Olympus 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?
Answer
As of 2018, aside from the built-in RC "smart" optical system made by Olympus and Panasonic, there are a few radio triggering systems that now support TTL and HSS with MFT (micro four-thirds), as well as remote power control. There are also manual-only systems with radio triggers built-in that support remote power control from the MFT hotshoe.
Full TTL/HSS systems
A number of systems now allow for full TTL/HSS communication (including remote power control) over radio:
All of these systems, except the oldest (the Aokatec) also offer some form of system-switching so that the lights can be used across different brands of cameras with the appropriate transmitter unit on the hotshoe. In the case of Nissin, however, the 10s transmitter that allows this, has not yet been released for MFT. And in all these systems, except for the Aokatec and Cactus V6II systems, it relies on controlling same-brand-as-the-trigger lights via their built-in radio receivers or transceivers.
Godox is probably the lowest cost system with the most expansion capability and options with lights.
In addition to the TTL/HSS systems, you can use any manual-only system where the flash has a built-in radio receiver that allows for power control, even though there's no power control capability on the foot. Some of the more popular systems are:
The Yongnuo YN-560-TX can manually control the power level, zoom, and group on/off on the Yongnuo YN-560 III / YN-560 IV / YN-660 / YN-720 manual flashes. And all but the YN-560 III can also be used as a radio master in the system.
The Lumopro LP180R has a built-in Odin receiver that can be triggered by either an Odin II or a Stratto II, but only the Odin II can control its power remotely.
TTL/HSS Triggers for other systems
In addition, most other-system full-TTL triggering systems (e.g., Canon RT, Yongnuo YN-622, and PocketWizard TTL) can be used on the MFT hotshoe with remote power control (although, obviously, no TTL or HSS).
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