Just spoken to Oly UK - bad news. Not only is the E-PL1 not remote compatible, it NEVER WILL BE compatible. This isn’t just a firmware issue - in their wisdom, Olympus made the E-PL1 hardware non remote compatible !!! Who'd have thought it was that different to the E-P1 and E-P2? So unless/until they introduce timed release with bracketing instead of one or the other, HDRs are going to have to be handheld or locked down on the tripod… which blows away any chance of long exposure HDR shots and any practical use of bulb setting Edited to add.... don't get me wrong, I still love my E-PL1 - but I was as surprised as the Tech support guy was when he found out. Just seems to be a bit of a big oversight on Oly's part to me.
Maybe I'm missing a point of your post, but quite frankly, I fully intend to do HDR on my PL1 and it should be no issue. I use a tripod anyway as you need to perfectly frame the shot. I'll do a 1 under and 1 over exposure as well as a neutral and blend them in Photomatix. No biggie for me. I'm not sure why you NEED a remote. Oh well. Glad it's not my problem.........
Olympus do have to differentiate between the E-P1/2 and E-PL1 otherwise no one would buy the more expensive pens. Although I am very surprised they omitted any remote options. A remote helps quite abit, especially when you are doing HDR. Using a remote allows you to eradicate any movement so you when you come to merge your pictures they should fit exactly. Without a remote you risk moving the camera slightly each time you push the shutter button. Not a big issue if your shooting landscapes.
Good luck with getting your pics to merge perfectly in Photomatix, then. But I'm sure you're already aware of how deficient it is when hand-held or not well enough aligned!!!
No remote release on a camera with BULB is simply BAD DESIGN To make thing worse the new viewer that will replace Studio has no "Camera Control" and the PENs don't do "Teathered" WHY
