The Flash Question

Part of the job is dealing with the venue rules. This club had a no video/no flash posting on a small sign near the front door. Given this is more of a dinner club than many places like the Viper Room, I was not surprised. But some fans were using little point and shoot cameras and the flash. Nobody said a word so I stuck a few flash shots in. For comparison I offer one each. The shots have very different looks. The club had very low lighting, I was at ISO 3200 wide open 4.5 lens and 1/30th exposure. No way could I shoot at a lower ISO or shutter. These wre shot two seconds apart.

So I ask you to comment which is better to your eye? The top image is without flash, the lower image with flash. Anonymous comments are allowed. No need to register.

Flash Question II

These show the sometimes harsh choice between two looks. These were shot a fraction of a second apart. Without flash in these conditions we get a lot of digital noise, far more ugly than film grain. Flash image above, non flash image below. Both are retouched in the usual ways-noise reduced, some red saturation reduced, etc.