I'm actually using world.checkCameraCollisionEllipsoid().
I'm using a matrix (playerDirection) to move the camera forwards using world.checkCameraCollisionEllipsoid(), like this:
tempVector=playerDirection.getZAxis();
..
if (!theWorld.checkCameraCollisionEllipsoid(tempVector, ELLIPSOID_RADIUS, MOVE_SPEED, 4)){
//ok, moved the camera
}
But in the code where I perform the camera.lookAt(), I think I need to somehow rotate playerDirection to match the new orientation of the camera. I'll have a play around and see what turns up.