On the sony cameras, there's usually a menu option like äudio".
You're looking for AGC and Wind Reduction.
Both of these have a compressor built in, but switching them out should bypass them.
I also believe that there is a hard limiter that has a thres of about -6dBFS. Aim to have your peaks around there and your RMS at about -12dBFS (this is standard in the boradcast industry... well at least it is here). So long as you've got a clean signal coming in, then you can just gain it up in post.
One thing about the Sonys that I don't like is the noisefloor- it's pretty high, ujp to -45dBFS with the motors turning, which can be noticable if you're recording a low source. If you're really concerned about your audio, invest in a small 2-channel mixer (like a Shure) and a MD/DAT 2-track recorder. Even a consumer/prosumer MD will usually give you better results than using the onbaord audio- just make sure that you can get at least 48kHz with it.