Difference in two working PHP solutions get_post_meta

Hi,

Iam setting up a new site using 3-5 custom fields.

Basic function is that if the custom field is filled in it will show for example the image linked – if its not filled in it will output nothing.

Being fairly new to PHP i have made two different solutions – both working and would like your input och what the differences are?

Solution 1 (inside the loop)

<?php if ( $image=get_post_meta($post->ID, 'image', true) ) : ?>
<div class="image-container">
<img src="<?php echo $image; ?>" /></div>
<?php endif; ?>

Solution 2 (inside the loop)

<?php $image=get_post_meta($post->ID, 'image2', true); ?>
<?php if ( $image2 ) : ?>
<div><img src="<?php echo $image2; ?>" /></div>
<?php endif; ?>

The most obvious being that the second one could be added with else statements – any other thoughts? The first one being much shorter and therefore prefered?